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Mayor Reveals Site of Swiss Bar Fire That Killed 40, Including 3 Jewish Teens, Had No Safety Inspection for 5 Years
A woman looks at tributes placed outside the “Le Constellation” bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, Jan. 4, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
The bar that caught fire at a ski resort in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on New Year’s Eve, killing 40 people including three Jewish teens, had not been inspected by safety inspectors for the last five years, the mayor of the town said on Tuesday morning.
“Periodic inspections were not carried out between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Féraud said at a press conference held five days after the deadly fire at Le Constellation bar, which was renovated in 2015. “The municipal council became aware of this situation by consulting the documents submitted to the public prosecutor’s office this weekend. The courts will determine the influence that such a failure in the chain of events that led to the tragedy.”
The mayor told reporters he could not explain why the establishment was not annually inspected by safety officers every year as required by law.
“We’re profoundly sorry, and I know how hard that will be for the families,” Féraud added. He said the Crans-Montana municipality did not want to conceal any information regarding the fire last Wednesday because “we believe we owe it to the victims and their families.” The cause of the blaze has not been officially determined, but the mayor added that the public prosecutor’s office is in charge of the criminal investigation and is working with relevant judicial authorities.
The last of the 40 people who died in the fire were identified on Sunday, including 15-year-old Israeli citizen Charlotte Niddam. She was initially reported as missing. Niddam was a former student at Immanuel College, a private school in Hertfordshire in the UK, and the Jewish Free School in northwest London before she moved with her family back to their native France, according to the latter school. She worked as a babysitter for the resort during school break, according to the Crans-Montana resort website.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned Niddam’s death in a post on X, saying, “My thoughts are with all her family and friends after this devastating loss.” Niddam’s cousin is ZAKA International Rescue and Recovery Director-General Baruck Niddam, who participated in commanding the operation of identifying and recovering bodies of the deceased from the fire, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Jewish-Italian sisters Alicia and Diana Gunst, ages 15 and 14, respectively, were also identified on Sunday among those killed in the fire. The sisters lived in the Jewish community of Lausanne, Switzerland, and are the youngest victims of the fire. The 40 victims were all between the ages of 14 and 39, but 20 of them were minors. In addition, 116 people were injured in the blaze.
Swiss authorities so far have said they think the fire was set off by sparklers inside the bar that were raised too close to the ceiling during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Féraud said at the press conference on Tuesday morning that the soundproof foam used in the Le Constellation ceiling was acceptable to safety officers at the time of the last inspection, before 2020. He announced that the municipal council has commissioned a specialized external firm that will conduct an audit of all public establishments in Crans-Montana “as quickly as possible.” The municipal has also banned sparklers, and all pyrotechnic or similar devices, inside public establishments.
The bar’s owners, French nationals Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are being investigated by authorities and are facing charges of homicide by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, and arson by negligence, a source told AFP. The mayor said the couple have not been arrested but a second business they own has been shut down.
The couple said in a statement to AFP they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief” over the fire. They promised to full cooperate with investigators and added, “We will not attempt to shirk our responsibilities in any way.”
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Iran Promises ‘Crushing’ Attacks Against the US and Israel
Symbolic mock-ups of Iranian missiles are displayed on a street, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran has issued a stark warning of “crushing” retaliatory attacks against the United States and Israel following threats from US President Donald Trump to escalate military operations in the coming weeks.
In a statement aired on Iranian state television, the Khatam al-Anbiya operational command said, “this war will continue until your humiliation, your disgrace, your permanent and certain regret, and your surrender,” framing the conflict as a long-term confrontation and invoking “trust in Almighty God.”
Iranian officials further warned that future operations would be “more crushing, broader, and more destructive,” signaling the potential expansion of the conflict across multiple fronts amid ongoing missile and drone exchanges in the region.
The escalation comes after Trump publicly suggested intensifying strikes on Iran, saying operations would continue until “the job is finished” and claiming significant military gains against Iranian strategic capabilities. As tensions rise, both sides appear to be hardening their positions, increasing fears of a wider regional confrontation.
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Trump Speech Unleashes More Pain on US Consumers with $5 Gasoline, Record Diesel in Sight
US President Donald Trump arrives to award the medal of honor to Master Sgt. Roderick ‘Roddie’ W. Edmonds, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 02 March 2026.
US President Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday, in which he vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, has put consumers on course for record fuel prices at the pumps just ahead of the country’s peak summer travel season, market experts said.
Americans expected Trump’s speech to outline a plan to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran’s blockade of the global oil conduit has sent oil and fuel prices skyrocketing, pinching consumers’ wallets. But instead, Trump vowed to bomb Iran back into the “Stone Ages” and said the strait would just open “naturally” when the war ends.
The comments sent US crude oil prices surging more than 10 percent on Thursday, and US average retail gasoline prices are now set to climb to between $4.25 and $4.45 a gallon by next week after crossing $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 at the start of this week, said Patrick De Haan.
The pain could worsen. If there is no viable plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US average price of gasoline will likely cross $5 a gallon and hit record levels within a month, De Haan said.
Wholesale markets had begun moving higher on Thursday, with midmorning increases of 17 cents a gallon in the Great Lakes, Great Plains, Northeast and West Coast markets, and a 19-cent-a gallon hike in the Gulf Coast, said Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser to Gulf Oil on social media.
Meanwhile, diesel prices, less visible to consumers but arguably more impactful as they are directly tied to the cost of making and moving goods, could hit a record high within two weeks, De Haan said.
The national average retail diesel price is set to climb from $5.47 a gallon on Thursday to between $5.80 and over $6 a gallon within the next two weeks, De Haan said. The record US average retail price was $5.83 a gallon in 2022.
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Britain Says 40 Countries Discuss Reopening Strait of Hormuz After Iran Blockade
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
About 40 countries are discussing joint action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran holding “the global economy hostage,” Britain said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump said securing the waterway was for others to resolve.
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said Iran’s “recklessness” in blockading the waterway was “hitting our global economic security” as she chaired the virtual meeting, which included France, Germany, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and India.
“We have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage,” Cooper said in opening remarks broadcast to the media before the rest of the meeting took place behind closed doors.
The United States did not attend the talks, one official said. The discussions, involving representatives of some 40 countries, took place after Trump said on Wednesday evening that the Strait could open “naturally” and it was the responsibility of countries that rely on the waterway to ensure it was open.
FOCUS ON DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY OPTIONS
Iran has effectively shut down the key waterway, which carries about a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes which began in late February. Reopening it has become a priority for governments around the world as energy prices soar.
European countries initially refused Trump’s demand to send their navies to the area because of fears about being dragged into the conflict.
But concerns about the impact of the rising cost of energy on the global economy have prompted them to try to form a coalition to see how they can defend their own interests.
European diplomats said putting the coalition together was at an early stage, with Britain and France leading.
Officials said the discussions on Thursday would focus on which countries were prepared to participate.
France’s Armed Forces spokesperson Guillaume Vernet told a news conference on Thursday that the process would be multi-phased and could not happen until hostilities had calmed or ended.
A key focus of the talks would be how to ensure ship-owners could feel confident enough for vessels to resume traveling through the area and to bring down insurance premiums.
There would also eventually need to be coordination with Iran to ensure that there will be security guarantees for ships, Vernet said, something that is unlikely for now.
Talks had also started on what military assets could be provided, he said.
“We will need to assemble a sufficient number of vessels and have coordination capabilities in the air, at sea, as well as the ability to share intelligence,” he said.
Britain said it would host a meeting of military planners for talks next week.
Trump said on Wednesday evening that other countries that use the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it.”
“Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” he said.
But France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaking in South Korea on Thursday said seizing the Strait militarily was an “unrealistic” option.
“It would take an indefinite amount of time, and it would expose all those who venture through this Strait to coastal risks from the Revolutionary Guards, as well as ballistic missiles,” he said.